


blooming lily

by orphan_account



Series: FE3HLGBT Week [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Baby's First Gay Crush, F/F, Pre-Timeskip, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 17:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20800151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lysithea finds herself face to face with her first crush, and seeks out an unlikely friend for help. Ft. Lysithea’s POV on bits of her supports with Leonie and what comes after.(Written for fe3hlgbtweek on tumblr for the prompt: crush)





	blooming lily

Lysithea lurched out of the class-room, her feet dragging in what she knew was rather lacking posture. She didn’t want to come across as a sulking child, but she was also dead on her feet. Professor Byleth had been administering a series of tests all week, and Lysithea had been up in the library every night until she had been kicked out, reviewing material over and over again. Dark circles stood out starkly on her pale face, but at least she knew she had succeeded on every exam.

She stumbled a bit as she walked down the few steps towards the dorms, and elected to lean against the stone of the Monastery for a breather. The summer day was bright and pleasantly warm, but right now, it just felt like the light and heat were beating down on her personally. She felt shaky and sweaty, unnecessarily grimy. Her eyes squeezed shut, she counted down from ten. On zero, she would finish her now arduous trek back to her room.

“I better not pass out…” she murmured to herself. 

There was a touch on her shoulder and she jerked away, eyes flying open. Staring down at her was a concerned Leonie, face inches away from her own. She felt her face flush at the proximity. Leonie looked so concerned, so genuine.

“Are you okay? You look really pale!”

“I-I just feel a bit queasy this morning. Nothing I can’t handle. I’m just heading back to my quarters to rest.”

Leonie frowned, and promptly crouched right in front of her, patting herself on the back.

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself on the way back. Here, climb on.” 

Lysithea gaped. “Wh-What? I’m not some sort of infant!”

Leonie rolled her eyes. “I know, I know, you don’t want to look like a child. But I’d do this for any of us who looked like they need it, alright?” And Lysithea tried to take a step away, but even that made her dizzy. It seemed she had no choice.

Reluctantly, she climbed on, looping her arms around Leonie’s neck. Leonie carefully adjusted her hands for a firm grip, and up they went. Leonie kept up the conversation, talking about how really, this was just a good training exercise. 

Lysithea found herself distracted by how cozy she felt. Despite the heat bothering her earlier, now she felt comforted. She could feel the solidness of Leonie’s muscles beneath her, feel the bristles of her hair against her cheek. She had all but drifted off when she blinked back to consciousness as Leonie was lowering her into her bed.

“You don’t have to-” Leonie cut her off by pressing the back of her hand to her forehead.

“Shhhhhh, just go to sleep, okay? You feel feverish.”

Lysithea withdrew into the bed, Leonie helping swaddle her in her sheets. It was too hard of a fight to keep her eyes open any longer. When she woke hours later, there was a damp cloth on her forehead and a glass of water on her table. The impression of Leonie’s hand on her forehead haunted her, the feeling lingering. That was how it began.

* * *

The next time Lysithea met with Leonie, she couldn’t help but sing her praises.

“You would make a perfect husband.” she observed, “Really, you’ve got all the perfect qualities.”

“Ha! You’re gonna make me blush. I’m glad I won’t disappoint my future partner.”

_ Partner. Not husband. Does that mean- _ Lysithea quickly dismissed herself, inventing a task she had to hurry off to complete. She was positive now that she knew what was happening here.  _ A crush _ . Was that too juvenile of her? They were all teenagers, and while she was not one for gossip, there was certainly talk and couples holding hands and breaking up publicly all over the Monastery. What she needed was an expert on the topic. And it couldn’t be someone from her own house, lest word get out. She was already the baby of the group as it was.

That night, Lysithea found herself outside an unfamiliar door. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. And then she knocked. There was a pause, and the door swung open. Behind it stood a student a good bit taller than Lysithea, with brown hair and a small black hat perched on her head.

“Dorothea,” Lysithea said stiltedly, by way of greeting. Dorothea was clearly surprised, but she didn’t let it affect her words.

“Lysithea. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Lysithea shifted. “It’s… a personal matter. May I come in?”

“Of course, of course.” She stepped back to let Lysithea in, shutting the door behind her carefully. Lysithea stood in the middle of the room, trying to decide if it was less rude to sit on the bed or in the chair Dorothea had clearly just been occupying.

“Sit wherever you like, I don’t bite, promise.”

She opted for the chair, folding her hands up in her lap as she sat. Dorothea sat herself gracefully on her bed, legs crossed.

“So?”

“It is a matter of the heart. And, uh, people say you’re… experienced in that.”

Dorothea stifled a laugh, bringing a hand up to her mouth. Her lips were curved upwards, her eyebrows raised.

“Dear Lysithea, do you happen to have a crush on someone?”

Lysithea found herself growing red, an experience she having far too often lately.

“I just need advice on how to handle it. I’m embarrassing myself constantly.”

“Puppy love,” Dorothea said sagely. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Most of us are flattered when we see someone swooning, as long as they aren’t being obnoxious about it.”

“But- but I look so foolish. And what am I even meant to do? Getting married is out of the question, and I need to be able to focus on my studies, and-”

“Hey, hey! Calm down.” Dorothea rose to slide a hand onto Lysithea’s shoulder. “What did you do last time you liked someone? We can use that as a guide to what to do this time.”

“... there was no last time. I.. I didn’t spend much time around people who weren’t my family before this.” She said lamely, and that was all Dorothea needed to know on the matter. Dorothea’s face softened.

“I see. Well, there’s no need to jump to  _ marriage _ . A good spouse has a whole laundry list of qualities, and requires extensive testing before settling down. Just focus on the now. You enjoy spending time with them, right? Just be happy with the experience. Not every little crush has to go somewhere.”

Lysithea had assumed that was the case, but it was hard to remember when her thoughts kept spiraling towards the  _ what if _ .

“And it’s not weird?” This was a military school. A lot of the casual students engaged in such activities, but she had never seen Professor Byleth or any of her immediate classmates truly swooning, just Hilda asking for favors and Lorenz trying to curry favor.

“It’s a classic part of the school tradition, trust me. Do you want some chocolates? They’ll cheer you right up.”

Lysithea bit her lip, considering. “That would be acceptable,” she said begrudgingly. “Sorry for freaking out on you.”

Dorothea waved her off. “I’m just glad we’ve been able to bond. You should talk to people outside of your house more often. Us Black Eagles, we know how to keep things to ourselves.”

And after that, Lysithea found herself letting Dorothea draw her into increasingly unproductive tasks, like braiding her hair and painting her nails. Yet, strangely, when she returned to her own room hours later, she did feel much less panicked than before.  _ Just enjoy the experience _ . That’s what she would do tomorrow. No more being nervous and saying too much.


End file.
